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We live in Chapel Hill and have about 2 acres of wooded land. I have not seen one myself, however my neighbor was bitten by a Copperhead while gardening. She spent several weeks in the hospital and a few days in the ICU. There is a creek on our property and another neighbor (not the one who was bitten!) has seen several along the creek (the creek runs through their property as well) so we are careful not to let the kids near the creek and have scared them enough that they don't go into the wooded areas on the property w/o us around...
I was reading a book on snakes recently which said that Copperheads are more likely to strike than other snakes (including rattlesnakes)...they often do not flee, but stand their ground.
We moved here from AZ, and I must say I was pretty surprised to find out about Copperheads. I just hadn't really thought about it I guess. I was thinking "yeh, no more rattlesnakes!" (or at least not many...), but at least we could see the snakes in the desert, unlike the areas Copperheads hide in!
Having said all that....like I said, we have not seen a single Copperhead. And my kids go out and play in the backyard every day. I just take certain precautions which really don't affect my life: I don't let them go to the wooded areas w/o me there; I don't let them crawl under the porch...that sort of thing.
No big deal really, but yes, there are certainly more poisonous snake encounters here than MA. ME is the only state in the US where a rattlesnake has never been reported (also the only state in the US where no venomous snake at all has ever been reported), but they are rare in New England.
And at least there aren't scorpions here!!
Nell
ps--Fire ants? Now that's something I would not worry about!! If you step on a fireant, you won't need to be rushed to the hospital !!
There is snake repellants like "Dr. T's Snake-a-way" and "Liquid Fence". Snake-a-way is granuales you sprinkler around the edge of your yard, it has a mothball like chemical in it. And liquid fence doesn't have the mothball chemical and is said to be natural (of course not all things natural non-toxic) but is said to be EPA approved. It is a spray you use every 2-3 weeks. I lived in TX for a while and talk about snakes! We had the same kind of variety - copperheads, water moccassins and rattlesnakes. We saw them but I never knew anyone that had been bit. Don't get me wrong I am not a snake fan so I will be getting something to put around my yard when I get there. I don't know if it's is an old wifes tale or just my ex's smart &$@ father, but he said copperheads like honeysuckle plants. I had some around my yard but never saw a copperhead in my yard there, of course that doesn't mean they were not there, hiding . Like I said I don't know if that was just his lame idea or what.
Snakes or no snakes - I am still moving to Raleigh. How about you?
I swear, I saw many flying frogs in Wilmington.. They stuck to the house, trees, screens.. I was trembling and itchy.. lol..
I was so afraid they would fly in my hair.. lol...
I love frogs! I wish we could have flying frogs in Durham, it would help me get over the loss of my beloved Florida anoles...
...my new property manager insists some lizards come out by the pool in the summer, but I hadn't signed the lease yet, and I think she realized it might be a selling point for me.
Just keep the cockroaches away from me and I'm happy.
Ive lived all over NC and we have more then just copperheads, Ive caught coral snakes at the beach (holdens) Ive killed 6 Cotton mouths which by the way are much more aggressive then a copperhead. Have caught 3 timber wood rattlers in Boone. these are the ones that will hurt you, lots of other snakes that are good like black racers king snakes ribbon snakes corn snakes.
bottomline all the building here in cary has pushed the wildlife into back yards were they used to live is a shopping center so snakes transplant to. Just be carefull near areas such as log piles and creeks or any where mice or varmites are plentiful,its snakes food. Bigger issue here is brown recluse spiders and black widows, they seem to be every where these days.
LOL, NC man, I think you might have just solved the "growth problem" in NC with that last post! :-D. Geez, even I have the heebie Jeebies now and I grew up here!
We live in Chapel Hill and have about 2 acres of wooded land. I have not seen one myself, however my neighbor was bitten by a Copperhead while gardening. She spent several weeks in the hospital and a few days in the ICU.
Is there anything that people keep in their house to treat a venomous snake bite? Or do you just rush to the hospital?
Do you need to worry about the cotton mouths or other snakes when swimming in Fall Lake (or any lake for that matter)?
Cotton mouths tend to range closer to the east like around newbern, Copper heads are in the wooded areas around falls lake but the snakes in the lake are a common water snakes and non venomous, so no worries( not to say they might move west with the warming climate they found a gator in clayton.) Just make noise and watch were you walk on the trails. They are scared of you to and just want to get away.
Most of the lake beaches are very safe and pest free. It's only off the beaten path that you might encounter a snake. They are wild animals, they don't like being around popular places like the recreation areas in the lakes.
Have y'all heard about the sharks at our beaches yet??? :-)
OK, I swear, I'm just kidding. It's just odd to me to even give a second thought about these animals as a native. We go camping in the mountains knowing there are black bears, at the lakes knowing there are snakes, at Carolina Beach State park with the gators, in the ocean knowing there are sharks, but I've never really worried about the wildlife that much. Typically they have no interest in us. They do their own thing and don't just "attack" people. Chances are you may never encounter any of them while living here. For those of you relocating here, don't you all have some natural, scary beasts living amongst you that you don't even really pay attention to?
I can do without the spiders though. ugh.
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Snakes in the lakes?
